Iowa Becomes 19th State To Establish Constitutional Carry For Firearms

The state of Iowa has just passed legislation that will make it the 19th state to enact Constitutional Carry, also known as Permitless Carry. Governor Kim Reynolds signed House File 756 on April 2, but the law won’t go into effect until July 1, 2021. Iowa becomes the third state just this year to legalize Constitutional Carry, following Utah and Montana. Governor Reynolds’ public comment on the bill follows:

“Today I signed legislation that protects the 2nd Amendment rights of Iowa’s law-abiding citizens while still preventing the sale of firearms to criminals and other dangerous individuals. This law also takes greater steps to inform law enforcement about an individual’s mental illness helping ensure firearms don’t end up in the wrong hands. We will never be able to outlaw or prevent every single bad actor from getting a gun, but what we can do is ensure law-abiding citizens have full access to their constitutional rights while keeping Iowans safe.”

There seems to be some confusion when it comes to the issue of Constitutional and Permitless Carry, in the sense that people tend to think that the permit to carry system or process goes away altogether. I can’t speak for the other 18 states, but in Iowa’s case the carry permitting process is still alive and may be required for Iowans that carry in reciprocating states. The following excerpt is from the current Iowa Code 724.5, which is being replaced by the text from HF756 below it.

724.5 Duty to carry permit to carry weapons.
1. A person armed with a revolver, pistol, or pocket billy concealed upon the person shall
have in the person’s immediate possession the permit provided for in section 724.4, subsection
4, paragraph “i”, and shall produce the permit for inspection at the request of a peace officer.
Failure to so produce a permit is a simple misdemeanor.

Sec.13. Section 724.5, Code 2021, is amended by striking the section and inserting in lieu thereof the following:

724.5 Availability of permit not to be construed as prohibition on unlicensed carrying of weapons. The availability of a professional or nonprofessional permit to carry weapons under this chapter shall not be construed to impose a general prohibition on the otherwise lawful unlicensed carrying or transport, whether openly or concealed, of a dangerous weapon, including a loaded firearm.

This is good news for people that can’t afford the permitting process, as well as for those of us that don’t agree with having to ask permission to be able to exercise our 2nd Amendment rights. Iowa’s new law as written in HF756 also clarifies a number of other firearm-related issues, such as landlord and tenant laws, emergency medical personnel, preemption, and strengthening notification to enforcement databases following disqualifying court judgments.

The new bill eliminates the requirement to obtain a permit to purchase pistols or revolvers as long as the person is able to pass a National Instant Criminal Background Check (NICS). It would appear that a permit to acquire handguns privately will NOT require the permit to acquire (or carry), however it’s possible that some sellers will still require to see a permit for their own piece of mind that the buyers aren’t prohibited persons.

UPDATE: The above paragraph was changed to reflect correct information regarding private sales.

If your state has already passed Constitutional Carry, how smooth was the transition? If your state has yet to pass Constitutional Carry legislation, how long do you think it’ll be before such laws are enacted?